Fanservice is an awkward thing to pull off.
Unless you give people specifically, exactly what they want, you're probably better off not bothering. When the fanbase is that of Doctor Who, a series with wild differences in tone, presentation style and accepted continuity, then you're most likely on a hiding to nothing trying to give them what you think they want.
And thus it fell to Stephen "Lowered Expectations" Thompson to try to live up to the poisoned chalice of a title he'd been given to play with. Despite all the odds stacked against him, not least our own opinion of his previous Who adventure The Curse of the Black Spot, how does he fare?
Join Joe and Chris as they lead you on the definitely-not-infinite journey to the very heart of a podcast and, as you'd expect from such a fine, family friendly product, also take in talk of professional wrestling, "boning", The Simpsons and the pure hilarity of bigotry.
Also, just maybe, this episode may see the unnecessary return of CRACKWATCH!
Listen to JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE TARDIS
Image courtesy of Grande-Caps
Oh lads, oh lads, oh lads...
ReplyDeleteI'm posting early in the episode, so this may be addressed later on, and if so I apologise.
But an interesting way to approach the three brothers is to imagine them played as the Trotter family: the youngest (android) is obviously Rodney (he's got CSE's!); the middle who thinks he's smarter than he is is Del Boy, and the elder is Granddad (or Uncle Albert if you prefer) and thus thick as shit.
And suddenly any presumption of racism falls away, which makes me question whether the problem is with us, presumably white, middle class and liberal audience, and not the characters as written. Something reinforced by my wife (who is of Barbados decent) totally not reacting to any presumed prejudice from Los Bros Scrap. (Although you should hear her reaction to the "Hmm, Slavery's Bad Children" RTD episode, Planet of the Ood: form a phrase out of shit and patronising!)
Agree with you about the elder brother's fall, although I put at least part of the blame there with the director, as the tiny spark that hits him doesn't seem to warrant any reaction at all.
I rather liked the "Didn't know he was an android" subplot: it came across to me as very Philip K Dick (as did the entire episode, really), and mentally I could justify his ignorance to his true condition as being an android made with organic components, hence the need to both consume organic material and secrete it. Similarly his having emotions when continually told he shouldn't: he's simply well made!
Still think the episode would have been improved with the cast of Only Fools and Horses being in it (something I never thought myself likely to say) but the price paid would have been haveing to make this back in 1984 with the same Tardis Wall backdrop in every scene, and some dodgy Quintal Paintbox work...
Oh, how things have/haven't changed.
Other than that, still loving the podcast, so keep up the good work.
More posts may follow as the podcast progresses...